EAST ST. LOUIS — A 29-year-old Park Hills, Missouri man was sentenced Thursday in U.S. District Court to life in prison for sex trafficking of a minor, according to the United States Attorney for the Southern District of Illinois, Donald S. Boyce.

Facts presented in court revealed that Marcus DeWayne Thompson recruited, transported, and advertised a minor female from Illinois for commercial sex acts in Florida, Georgia and Louisiana over a six-week period in June and July 2015.

Marcus Thomson, along with his wife, Robin Thompson took and posted sexually explicit pictures of the minor on an internet site as part of an advertisement for sex with the minor.

Thompson also arranged prices, services, and meet locations with customers to engage in sex with the minor. He also engaged in sex with the minor on at least five occasions himself.

During the sentencing, Chief District Court Judge Michael J. Reagan characterized Thompson as a “predator” who “sold the minor victim as a commodity.” Judge Reagan also stated that Thompson was responsible for both repeatedly raping and facilitating the rape of the minor victim by others.

This case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice. Led by U.S. Attorneys’ Offices and the Criminal Division’s Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section, Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state and local resources to better locate, apprehend and prosecute individuals who exploit children via the Internet, as well as to identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit projectsafechildhood.gov.

The case was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Daniel T. Kapsak and Monica A. Stump.